The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has recognized 10 endoscopy units as part of its program specifically dedicated to promoting quality in endoscopy, in all settings where it is practiced in the United States.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is an effective, noninvasive method for monitoring patients who undergo endovascular repair for abdominal aortic aneurysms, according to a new study published in the journal Radiology. "Our findings support the addition of contrast-enhanced ultrasound as a complementary tool in the follow-up of these patients," said Rosa Gilabert, M.D., ...

Researchers report that unsedated transnasal endoscopy is a feasible, safe, and well-tolerated method to screen for esophageal disease in a primary care population. This study is the largest reported experience with transnasal endoscopy in the United States. The study appears in the May issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly ...

Techniques used by researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to analyze a simple marine worm and its resident bacteria could accelerate efforts to understand more complex microbial communities such as those found in humans. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of ...

A study published in the May 9 issue of JAMA reveals that eating probiotic foods (live microorganisms), such as yogurt, reduces the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, a prevalent side effect of antibiotic use. The researchers explained: "The use of antibiotics that disturb the gastrointestinal flora [microbes] is associated with clinical ...

Consuming probiotics reduces the risk of diarrhea caused by antibiotic usage, researchers from RAND Health, Santa Monica, California reported in Jama (Journal of the American Medical Association). Probiotics are microbes that protect their host and prevent diseases. The most common probiotic is Lactobacillus acidophilus, which is common in yogurt and ...

Infants whose gut is colonised by E. coli bacteria early in life have a higher number of memory B cells in their blood, reveals a study of infants carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The bacteria in our gut outnumber the cells in our ...

NOAA scientists and their colleagues have discovered a biological marker in the blood of laboratory zebrafish and marine mammals that shows when they have been repeatedly exposed to low levels of domoic acid, which is potentially toxic at high levels. While little is known about how low-level exposure to domoic ...